


The Olive Branch

by orphan_account



Series: Lunch Club Meets Superpowers [1]
Category: Lunch Club
Genre: Abandonment, Air Powers, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Anxiety, Districts, Dystopia, Explicit Language, Fatal Flaws, Fire Powers, Flashbacks, Friendship, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Mild Language, No Slash, Not Beta Read, Self-Hatred, Skyrate AU, Superpowers, Technopathy, Telepathy, Teleportation, Trust Issues, Water Powers, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24727657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Before, they were looked down upon. They'd been called freaks, mistakes of nature, mutants that should be put down.Others like them let those words get to them, they let it drive them insane. To the point of breaking, turning on your sector. Mass killings and horrible tragedies. That was why life was so hard as a powered human.But there was something different about this bunch. Sure, the words hurt. But they never broke. Yes, leaving a family was hard, but they knew what was best.They were smart, resourceful, and maybe they were the ones the prophecy spoke of. Maybe this group was the olive branch that would pull humans and powered together to live peacefully.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Lunch Club Meets Superpowers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787929
Comments: 16
Kudos: 87





	1. Who they are

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> There will be absolutely NO shipping in this fic. That's weird asf with real people. Even if the situation is fake.  
> If anyone one in this fic contacts me and is uncomfortable with this being up, I will surely take it down or completely change all the characters names and appearances so that it's an original work.  
> This fic is loosely based off of a lunch club podcast episode where they talk about "skyrates" or "sky-pirates" but is also inspired by a series written by WreakingHavok, so definitely go check them out!  
> Every event that takes place is completely fiction.  
> This fic will be Charlie, Schlatt, and Noah centric (for the most part, they just had the largest role in the prophecy).

From the eyes of an outsider, their group was sure... _different._ Different backgrounds, different upbringings, different Sectors, different situations that brought them all together. 

From the eyes of an outsider, it seemed like too much of a coincidence. Too much of a coincidence that they ended up together, too much of a coincidence given the prophecy.

If you looked at Carson, you'd see a leader. A powered from the Royal Sector. You'd see how he walks with his head held high, of course he did, he'd been raised to do so from birth. You'd see how he squints his eyes when he laughs and how he has this uncanny ability to make anyone and everyone smile, no matter what's going on around them. You'd see a boy that seemed perfect. 

But you wouldn't see a boy who was found to be powered. A boy with telepathy. A boy that could get inside your head and screw around with whatever he saw. He could make you do things, read your mind, scare you with horrible memories and images. But he never did that. All he did was convince a teacher to give him a higher marking than he probably deserved and the teacher noticed, alerted the authorities, and suddenly he was kicked out. He was given 2 hours to pack his things and he would be gone. He didn't blame them. With the current climate and opinions on powered people, a boy who could get in your head was definitely not going to be taken pretty well. Especially a boy who's going to one day hold the throne. So he left in the skyship his parents had given him to go and work with the sky-based trade routes with other nations and a story emerged to cover up his disappearance and the name _'Carson'_ became a word that was never to be spoken.

If you looked at Charlie, you'd see a boy from the Agriculture Sector with a bubbly, over-the-top personality. Almost _too_ over-the-top. If you think he was overcompensating for something, you'd be correct. You might even see the tattooed bar code on his wrist that signaled what number his test subject he was. 

You wouldn't see the hurt and panic that he rarely let show. Hurt from being abandoned. Panic from being taken and experimented on. It's very unusual how willing he is to trust anyone who even bats an eyelash in his direction considering how almost everyone in his life has stabbed him in the back, either figuratively or literally. It was only when they'd put him in the cell with currents running through he walls that he discovered the true extents of his powers. 

At first, he thought he could only manipulate the ground, make the dirt rise to form walls. Pull natural metals to the surface with easy. Send stone and rocks hurtling through the air like bullets.

Then, he realized he could split the ground with easy. He could create crevices that seemingly had no bottom. He could create earthquakes with the blink of an eye. He watched the stone grow around a guards feet and ankles, watching as it slowly snaked up his body, rendering everything it touched completely immobile. He looked at what was once a man and had suddenly become a statue, forever frozen in fear. And he hated himself. He was scared of what he could do. So he ran, even if his emotions caused the ground the shake and cracks to form, he ran.

If you looked at Schlatt you'd see a smart man from the Technology Sector, with a bright future ahead of him. You'd see someone who was good with computers. Oddly good with computer, actually. He understood things that others hadn't even thought to think of. He had an amazing line of work. Amazing pay. He could read binary and bar codes as if it was just another language he grew up speaking. He didn't even realize he was powered until one day a group of guards showed up, hand cuffed him, and took him to a research facility. He had passed a boy, chained to the ground in a steel cell. He saw electric currents running up the bars on the door. That's all he saw before they shoved him in his own cell.

He'd gone through 3 cells. 3 cells that he made his way out of, but he never ran. 3 cells that he could just open the door without even breaking a sweat. 3 cells that he sat in for a week each, just to humor them. It took them 3 cells before they finally suck him between 4 lead walls. And those 4 lead walls made his brain feel empty. It was only when the facility collapsed that he escaped, making eye contact with the boy from the electric current-infused cell, and turning the other way. 

When you'd look at Noah, you'd probably be scared. You'd see a boy from the Defense Sector who looks like he could beat you up and you wouldn't even know what hit you, but he was quite the opposite. He'd grown up around fighting and protecting the ones you love, but something about it made him uncomfortable. He wasn't one to 'talk through the differences' and if someone needed slapped around to understand something, the so be it, but seeing the injured bodies on the ground made his stomach flip. It wasn't until the day when he a and a group of his friends from the Defense Sector were called in to take care of some outsiders trying to raid the Agricultural Sector that he saw an innocent girl get caught in the crossfire. He felt his heart drop and immediately ran into enemy fire to pull the girl to safety. She had to be no older than 8 or 9. He put his hand on her face, whispering that it would be okay, that he would get her out of this, and he watched as the scraps on her body healed themselves and he saw the blood disappear. He could feel an ache seep in between his bones as he watched the girl heal and he knew he was the one that caused it. He was powered.

He was disgusted with what he saw. Disgusted in himself. He had spent his whole life learning and believing that powered humans were dangerous and all they caused was pain and suffering. How could he call himself a member of the Defense Sector when he was exactly what they were fighting to eradicate. So he ran. He'd seen an alert go out through the news that he was missing. 3 months later they declared him dead as he ventured further and further away from the only place he'd ever known as home.

When you'd look at Cooper, you'd see the missing posters that were up all around the Lumber and Mining Sector. It started out with his mom giving him a kiss on the forehead before he walked to school, just like every morning. She said he felt warm, so she took his temperature and sure enough, he had a fever. The weird thing was that Cooper felt fine, he felt great, even. His mom forced him to stay home from school so she could monitor the fever and it only rose, finally she caved and brought him to a local doctor who immediately sent him to a hospital. And there he was given a medicine to make him sleep, to see if the rest would help his body fight off whatever was giving him this fever. 

When Cooper woke up the fire alarms were going off, the room was filled with smoke and there was nobody in sight. He quickly discovered the source of the smoke was him. Well actually, his hands and how they were quite literally engulfed in flames, but it didn't hurt, just more of a pleasant warmth surrounding his wrists and fingers. He shattered the nearest window and ran, knowingly leaving a small trail of flames in his path. He ran until he saw a village, not like one you'd see in any of the Sectors. The paths were lines with straw and the made of the same. He watched as a small spark lit the town on fire. There were no screams, so he prayed it had been abandoned.

You would have never seen Travis or Ted, they had grown up Sector-less. They had been born into powered families, learning how to control their powers from the day they opened their eyes. Travis could be seen controlling the water, while Ted was manipulating air and flying everywhere in their small territory. They didn't really know each other, their territory was small, yes, but it was large enough that you didn't know every single person who was there. They'd probably even seen each other out and about but never stopped to talk.

They didn't meet until their Sector-less group had decided to try and talk with the most peaceful of the Sectors, the agricultural, show everything they had accomplished and how they wanted to become a part of the Sectors again. But it didn't go as planned, the Sectored didn't want to listen and some figurative alarm was sounded and the Defense Sector showed up. Not only were they wounded, killed, and chased back into their homes, but by the time they had gotten there, their homes were already up in flames, it was odd how the ones from the Defense Sector even seemed surprised when they saw the flames, didn't know cause this? Travis tried his hardest to put out the fires but it was too much for the little amount of water he has on hand. Ted's attempt to blow out the fires only spread the flames around more. The pair packed up what they had and left. Not knowing where they were going or what they were even looking for. 

Before, they were looked down upon. They'd been called freaks, mistakes of nature, mutants that should killed. 

Others like them let those words get to them, they let it drive them insane. To the point of breaking, turning on your Sector. Mass killings and horrible tragedies. That was why life was so hard as a powered human. Nobody trusted you, and you didn't even know if you could trust the others like them.

But there was something different about this bunch. Sure, the words hurt. But they never broke. Yes, leaving a family was hard, but they knew what was best. 

They were smart, resourceful, and maybe they were the ones the prophecy spoke of. Maybe this group was the olive branch that would pull humans and powered together to live peacefully.


	2. Charlie: Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie gets caught and ends up somewhere he doesn't necessarily want to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> There will be absolutely NO shipping in this fic. That's weird asf with real people. Even if the situation is fake.  
> If anyone one in this fic contacts me and is uncomfortable with this being up, I will surely take it down or completely change all the characters names and appearances so that it's an original work.  
> This fic is loosely based off of a lunch club podcast episode where they talk about "skyrates" or "sky-pirates" but is also inspired by a series written by WreakingHavok, so definitely go check them out!  
> Every event that takes place is completely fiction.  
> This fic will be Charlie, Schlatt, and Noah centric (for the most part, they just had the largest role in the prophecy).

If Charlie could go back and change anything, he would've cried, told his mom how much he loved her, and maybe even beg her to say it back. 

If Charlie could go back and change anything, he would've run.

But he didn't.

So now he's being thrown onto the ground and cuffed by a group of guards as his classmates watch on in fear. As he was practically dragged to his feet, his eyes met those of his peers. Some of them looked absolutely terrified, and Charlie didn't blame them. It's not every day that you're just sitting in Science class and your classroom gets ambushed and a student who everyone thought was the golden child is rather violently taken into custody. Some people were looking away. But then he met eyes with _her._ She didn't look scared. She looked disappointed, sad even. And everything clicked in Charlie's head. _Grace snitched._

 _"How could you?!"_ He yelled, his words bleeding with raw emotion, as he was being dragged out of the classroom, All he got back was Grace mouthing an _"I'm sorry."_ Or maybe she said it, he didn't know. He couldn't hear anything over the sound of the blood rushing in his ears, but he allowed himself to be pulled out of the classroom and into an awaiting black van to be taken to a tall gray building near the Nation's Capitol. 

He was pushed into a room down a long hallway. The walls were concrete and the air was cold. There were only three things in the entire room. A stainless steel table and two chairs on either side. He was handcuffed to the table and shoved into the seat. There he sat alone for three hours until the door creaked open, he didn't dare turn around. He didn't want to get in any more trouble than he was already in, even though technically it wasn't his fault.

 _"Is it true?"_ A broken voice sounded from behind him. It was his mother. 

He whipped around, straining as far as the cuffs allowed him to, _"Mom,"_ He breathed, _"I-"_

 _"Answer the question, Is it true?"_ She said, more forcefully. She looked almost unrecognizable to Charlie. Her hair was unbrushed, her face was blotchy, her eyes were red from crying, there were even still tear tracks on her cheeks. 

_"I don't know why I'm here, nobody's told me anything. I'm scared, Mom."_ Charlie said with his voice breaking. 

_"You know damn well why you're here, Charles."_ She spat, he flinched at the use of his full name, _"How could you put Grace in a situation like that?"_

He wished, at this moment, that he had never been as trusting.

 _"I didn't- I just thought-"_ Charlie started, but was once again interrupted by his mother. 

_"No. You didn't think. You never think. Look where we are Charlie. If you can truly make me stand here and suffer. As a mother. At least have to courage to say what you are."_

Charlie turned back around, looking down at his cuffed hands. He didn't realize he was shaking. 

_"I-I can't,"_ Charlie said as the tears started falling. 

His mother's hand grabbed his face, forcing him to look into her eyes as she spoke, _"Say it. Say it for what you have done to Grace."_

Charlie's eyes searched his mother's face. He searched for a sign that this was some kind of cruel joke. He was waiting for her to start laughing and someone to come in with a camera and a guard to come in and uncuff him from the table, maybe even Grace would come in but with the way his mother's eyes were on fire with something he couldn't quite place, and how the tear tracks on her cheeks seemed too fresh, and how his wrists burned from being rubbed raw, it was all too real. He knew what he did and this wasn't a joke. 

At one point he thought he could trust Grace with anything. They'd grown up together. Best friends since they could walk. But that's just what happens when your mothers are friends and you happen to be neighbors. They'd told each other everything, always raw with emotion never holding back giving each other the honest truth even if it's not something they want to hear. Charlie had told Grace when their crops weren't growing the best he told her how he feared they wouldn't meet the season's quota, so his family would get fined. Money was always tight in the Agricultural Sector, it was that way for everyone. It was the farthest sector from the Capitol, so it was expected. Grace helped with what she could, she'd slip him a few extra ears of corn even some money. She knew it wouldn't be enough to meet the quota, but it was enough that when the fine came it'd be lesser than what they expected and they'd have some money to help pay it too. Grace had told Charlie about when her dad was getting sick, and the recent wind storm had done some damage to their house and now every time it rained, the roof leaked into her room but her dad was to sick to fix it, so Charlie went and patched up the roof himself. They trusted each other with everything, there were each other's safe places. At least that what Charlie had thought.

He suspected he was powered one day when he went out to take inventory of the animals. He tried his best chasing after pigs and chickens, trying not to count any twice. He was in the cow pasture when he saw it for the first time. He had just happened to glance down, noticing a small spider-webbing of cracks. They were barely deep enough to penetrate the surface but the longest might've been about a foot long. Upon closer inspection, he seemed to be standing one what was the center of the cracks, so he took a step to the side, but more cracks appeared. He took a step back this time, still more cracks splintering from his feet. He took a few quick steps away from the cracks, fearing the ground was about to cave in, but the cracks seemed to follow wherever he stepped. He took off, sprinting back towards his house, jumping the gate to the pasture. He decided to turn to see if the ground was still cracking, only to lose his balance and fall to the ground. 

The second Charlie's body hit the dirt, there was an almost deafening boom. In less than the time it takes to blink, Charlie was completely winded, his joints started aching, his head pounded, black dots danced in his vision, his ears still ringing from the boom. He shouldn't have been this affected by such a shortfall, right? He laid there gasping for breath, closing his eyes tightly, waiting for the world to stop spinning. 

When he decided he felt well enough to sit up again he was met with a much deeper crack, no, _a gash_ in the earth beside him. He followed the gash to see a tree about 10 or 15 feet away from him. It was completely uprooted and on its side. He trailed the gash back to just a few inches in from of him. Right where he had fallen. He looked back at where the smaller cracks had been, they had trailed up to the point he had fallen. Charlie started putting two and two together and it made him feel sick. He placed his hand firmly into the dirt, nothing happened for a few seconds and Charlie was starting to feel relieved. Maybe he was just going crazy. Then just as he was about to lift his hand from the dirt, there was an explosion of cracks spider-webbing from all directions of his palm. The cracks traveled at least 50 feet. Charlie recoiled at the sight. 

_No no no no no._ Charlie wasn't powered. He couldn't be. People who are powered are barbarians who enjoy violence and war and those are the absolute last things Charlie enjoys, but he had to tell someone. He couldn't just let this sit on his conscience, especially when he couldn't control it. He looked back up to the tree, then to his house. He looked back and forth between the two before turning and looking at Grace's house. 

He trusted Grace, that was who we would tell. He stood slowly and started walking.

But that seemed to have been the wrong choice. He should've noticed the way she was unusually quiet on their walk to school, she would've told him if he had asked what was wrong. She would've said _"I told my mom about what you told me, that you were powered. I didn't want to get in trouble for keeping your secret, I'm sorry. It's just what I had to do."_ Maybe if she had told him, he would've run. He would've run as far as he could, or ran to the gate's of the Nation, escaped, and saw how well he fared in the outlands. But he couldn't do that, because they didn't have the conversation, and he was cuffed to a metal table.

_"Say it, Charlie"_

_"I-I..."_ He stuttered, stopping to take a shaky breath.

 _"Is that you admitting it because if you weren't, you'd just say so."_ She was right. Charlie wasn't a liar. He couldn't lie to save his life.

 _"I'm powered."_ He admitted. His mother slapped him across the face. It stung more mentally than physically. And with that, she was gone, and Charlie was left alone in the cold concrete room, yet again. But this time the alone only lasted for a few minutes. The door opened again, Charlie was too mentally drained to turn around. A woman appeared in his field of view. She looked pretty well off, she had on a blazer and a tight skirt that ended at her knees, her hair was up in a neatly done bun, hair face was full so she obviously got enough food, unlike Charlie, who's shirt hung loosely around his thin frame. Her heels clicked against the concrete floor.

She looked like she was from one of the central Sectors. The Sectors worked like this:

At the center, there was the Capitol. It was the royal Sector, It was mainly just a palace that housed the two royal families and a little bit of surrounding land. Next were what was known as the central Sectors. There were three of them and they were placed in a triangle shape around the Capitol. There was the Defense Sector, The Technology Sector, and the Trade Sector. All of those Sectors were more or less upper class. Next, you'd have the 5 Secondary Sectors, the Lumber and Mining Sector which sounds like two Sectors but is only one, the Nuclear Power Sector, the Transportation Sector, the Fishing Sector, and the Textile and Fabric Sector. Those 5 Sectors are all middle class. Finally, you have the Sector Charlie lived in. The Agricultural sector. It is the largest Sector completely spanning the border and surrounding all other sectors. The Agricultural Sector was the lowest class. 

The woman took a seat in front of Charlie. 

_"Hello, Charles. I'm an ambassador from the Defense Sector. I'm going to make this short and simple. Since you have admitted to being powered, you have two choices. You can either come with us willing to a research facility where you'll become a test subject to better understand the powered and how they work or if you are not willing, you'll be set to the outer gates and shot. Your choice, choose wisely."_ She said with her hands folded neatly in front of her. 

_"I'll go. Yeah, I'll go to the facility."_

Arriving at the facility wasn't bad. The ride was quiet, he had time to think, and he was mainly thinking about how he wished he told his mother 'I love you' even though she probably wouldn't have said it back. 

The facility seemed nice on the outside, the inside wasn't too shabby. The only off-putting thing about it was the sheer amount of cells and screams.

The bar code tattoo that was imprinted on his wrist made his hand feel heavy. The tests weren't that bad, but there was one specific test that always struck fear into Charlie's heart, made his stomach cold with anxiety, and made his body tremble with fear. He'd been burned, poked, prodded, cut but _the tank_ was a different story. 

The researchers at the facility were trying to figure out the extent of each subject's powers, and since Charlie didn't have the most control over his powers, he was the perfect subject. 

They'd put him in a big metal tank and strip him of his uniform and make him stand in his underwear, they'd lock the latch on the door and all he could do was watch. Then the water would start flowing. It was coming from a pipe opening on the floor near where he was standing. The water raised higher and higher until he'd have to push himself against the walls so he could stay higher than the water level. Once he was basically pressed against the roof of the chamber, he'd beg and plead that they let him out, they never did of course. He'd take one last big gulp of air before he was completely submerged. He pounded against the glass planes, they were too thick for him to shatter. He looked around frantically. Only if he could control the glass and make it shatter but of course he couldn't. Yes, you could make the argument that it was sand but there were too many additives. It wasn't pure enough for him to manipulate. 

A feeling tugged at the back of his head near the base of his skull. Sure, he couldn't control the glass, but what was holding the glass together? Iron. _Pure_ iron. They wanted to test the limits of his powers, see if they extended to metals. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to float relaxed in the water on he focused on the iron the was holding the four glass panels of this chamber together. The was an audible creak and the walls exploded. The iron bindings that had once previously held together with the box, had shattered and shot the fragments in all directions like bullets. 

Charlie fell to the ground, gagging and gasping for air, occasionally coughing up and spitting out water. He looked up, hoping to see his main researcher looking down upon him proudly but what he was terrified him.

The main researcher that had been assigned to him was lying lifeless on the floor, blood slowly dripping from the bullet-like holes that encompassed his torso and upper body.

Charlie screamed, horrified at what he had done, he expected to be punished, tortured even. He had just killed a researcher. But instead, he was given an extra serving of mashed potatoes and sent back to his cell early. He looks out, past the bars, and into the hallway. He saw two guards walking side-by-side, guns drawn. Then, he saw a boy that didn't look much older than Charlie himself. He was not only handcuffed but also shackled, shuffling slowly along. He had a guard on either side of him, holding his arms at the elbows, probably making sure he didn't try to run.

Charlie and the boy locked eyes, a pit started forming in Charlie's stomach as the boy breathed in and let a soft smirk grow across his lips as he nodded in Charlie's direction. A soft click sounded through Charlie's cell.

The cell door had just came unlocked.

This was Charlie's chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> re-uploaded bc grammar


	3. Schlatt: Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schlatt ends up in a place where he absolutely does not want to be and he isn't going to go down without a fight.

Schlatt was smart. Top of his class, and that was an achievement for someone from the Technology Sector. His family was fairly well off so they had the money for private tutors when needed, considering Schlatt was an only child. He was even set to receive a high ranking job in the Capitol. Yeah, that's right. The _Capitol._ He had been interning for the past year so he’d go into the job with more experience, but he probably should've felt a little out of his league than he did considering all of his other inter "peers" were in their mid-to-late twenties while Schlatt was a measly 18 years old. He still had a few months before he even graduated high school. But that didn't matter because he had always been good with computers. He'd solve any virus within minutes, he'd create any program, access literally _anything_. He was just naturally gifted, some would say. Other's would say he was a hacker, and he took that as a compliment, because he knew he could do _absolutely whatever he wanted_.

He had done some dirty work, of course. Definitely not the kind of dirty work you'd think of when someone mentions _dirty work_ , but something that could get him in trouble nonetheless. He'd been payed by different classmates or people he didn't even know in different schools or even in different sector all just to change their grades and hope that their teachers didn't care enough to check them twice, simple things like that. Nobody snitched because they all knew Schlatt didn't have friends, he wasn't necessarily close with his family, so they wouldn’t care. He had nothing to loose, so there would be nothing gained from snitching. All that would happen is he’d get some community service hours, and even that’s a stretch. So he got away with it. He always did.

One day, he decided to test his limits. See how far he could go. Just for fun, you know? Maybe he'd find dirt on one of the royal families, maybe he'd learn some ancient secrets, or see what the government's hiding on powered people. He didn't know, but there was honestly nothing for him to do and he wasn't willing to just sit their until his shift ended, he needed something to keep him even remotely sane. 

He jiggled the mouse, waking the computer up, and within seconds of seeing the screen light up his world exploded into ones and zeros and lines of code and things that probably would've caused a normal person to faint or at least become very concerned for their mental health, but this never crossed Schlatt's mind as not being normal. A normal person shouldn't be seeing the things he's seeing, or have the ability to pick and move and change things to get where he wants, to see where he can go. He saw it as a puzzle, or a maze. People did those puzzle books, and this is basically the same thing, so yeah. This is normal. As previously mentioned he wasn't close with his family and he didn't have many friends so he never really brought up the ability to anyone, he just assumed everyone could do it, or maybe everyone could do it to an extent but he was just really fucking good at it. Maybe if he had brought it up with someone he would've realized he was powered before it was too late.   
  


He looked around through the code, pick and choosing which paths to take, did he want to find dirt on a royal? Not really, he wasn’t in a particularly ‘ready to expose a royal’ kid of mood. Did he want to find ancient secrets? While that sounded cool, it would probably take too much time or he’d trip some alarm system and Schlatt didn’t want to risk that. Find out what they’re hiding about the powered? Sure... that doesn’t sound to bad. With the blink of an eye, it was almost like he ctrl+F’ed and put in the key word “powered” because the computer screen in front of him lit up with classified articles and research papers on powered people, how they lived, how they came to be, what makes them powered, experiments perfor- wait. What makes them powered sounded extremely interesting. He opened the article, skimming a few paragraphs.

_It conclusion of our research, was found that the cause of the superpower is not a curse, nor a phenomenon, nor even a mutation.The ability to access these powers comes from a gene that would be present in us all if not for selective breeding. Every living human technically has the gene but it is in a sense “locked.” If a a child has one parent with a locked gene and the other with an unlocked gene they will become a carrier, when two carriers have a child the gene will remain locked for 4 generations but will become unlocked in the 5th and the child will become powered. If the person were to have a child with another powered person, their child would inherit either of the abilities but not both. If a powered person were to have a child with a carrier, the child would inherit the powered parents ability. If the powered person were to have a child with a non carrier, the child would become a carrier and have to wait at least 5 generations (if they were to procreate with another carrier or with a powered being) before seeing the powers again._

_There are only a fixed number of abilities a child can receive, each one linking back to an ancient force. These ancient forces can be traced back in a powered person’s DNA, but does not cause blood relation to people with the same abilities, a good comparison may be just because you and your wife both have brown eyes does not mean you’re married to your sister. It is just a gene that you share in common.  
_

_After communicating with the outermost tribes, who’s locations will be kept undisclosed, they are completely docile and act just like you or me. The stigma held of powered people being violent and barbaric is completely outrageous. Of course there are bad peoples who just so happen to be powered, but there are also had people who are not powered. You wouldn’t want your child around either, not just the one who is powered.There is no correlation between violence and the activation of the powered ge-_

The sound of a door slamming open brought Schlatt out of his trance like state. He jumped, spinning his chair around, hands flying up instinctively. His eyes met he faces of four guards, guns drawn and pointing at him, 

"Oh shit." Schlatt breathed,

"Get on the ground." One of the guards demanded. 

"Hey, hey, hey!" Schlatt defended, trying to keep up his cool guy facade, "You can't just detain me, I know my rights."

"You're being arrested for hacking into a government mainframe. Don't play dumb, kid." Another guard spat while approaching him. A third guard tried to reach for his arm, but Schlatt quickly yanked it away, standing up. 

"I wasn't hacking, I'm an intern here. I'm just doing my job." He pressed. 

"Your job doesn't require accessing classified files. You set off an alarm. We got called. Now get on the ground before we put you there."

Schlatt raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "Make me." The guard obviously hadn't expected such defiance seeing as it made him falter slightly, the barrel of his gun dropping to a nonlethal height.

Schlatt took this as his moment to look between the guards, the door, and the window, trying to make a split second decision. And that was when he bolted towards the door, feeling a tranquilizer dart whiz by, barely missing his neck. 

He'd been interning here for almost a year, meaning he knew this whole building like the back of his hand. He knew if he took one left turn, then not the first but the second right turn, the go down the B stairs he would end up in the lobby which was always fairly busy, he might be able to loose the guards there too. So that's what he tried to do but as soon as he opened the door to the lobby, he saw the flashing alarm lights that illuminated the room in red and everyone was gone. It dawned on Schlatt that they may have cleared the scene so if they needed a clear shot, there would be no room for civilian causalities. 

He ran to the main doors, but his heart sank when the doors didn't open. He checked all of them and they were all locked. His eyes quickly scanned the room for another escape route but there were none. Well, none if he didn't want to go back up but there were probably guards in every stairwell and elevator. He didn't have much time. 

His heart sank and he could feel his pulse beginning to quicken, his hands were shaking as he decided to try and pry the doors open again. Nothing. He pulled and pulled begging silently that they would just magically come open when his world flashed, illuminating his vision with the ever so familiar binary and code, but just as quickly as it appeared it was gone. But this time it felt different. It wasn't just gone, it was _erased._ The locking mechanisms above all the doors suddenly exploded, sending sparks flying in all directions. The doors all swung open and the flashing red lights and alarms stopped. Schlatt ran. He ran as far as his legs would take him. He ran until he was gasping and his legs refused to move. He collapsed to the ground. Tears threatening to spill as he gasped for breath. Tears threatening to spill as he realized that a normal person wouldn’t have been able to make the locks explode like that. Tears threatening to spill as he realize that his life would never be the same and he should've just gone with the guards. Tears threatening to spill but he wouldn't let them fall. He didn't let them fall when he was roughly handcuffed and thrown into the back of a black van. Be didn't cry when he realized there were guns trained on him at all times. He didn't even cry when they threw him into an interrogation room, chaining him to a metal table. 

"What the hell were you thinking?!" A guard in a different uniform yelled at him, "Do you now how many innocent people could've gotten hurt?"

"How many people got hurt?" Schlatt asked, the question was genuine even if it did sound sarcastic, and it must've come off as such because Schlatt has seen the guard's eye twitched.

"It's not about that. It's about what could've happened." The guard spat. 

"So, if no one got hurt, why are we dwelling on the past?" Schlatt asked, adjusting to lean further back in his metal chair, the guard slammed his hand down on the table, Schlatt only flinched in response but maintained a straight face. 

"You're getting on my last nerve kid." The guard warned. 

"It's what I do best." Schlatt smiled. Another guard walked in, this one was a woman. Her face was stern but her eyes were soft. 

"We need a name. Gotta contact your parents." She said, pencil and paper ready. 

"Schlatt. James Schlatt. I go by Schlatt though." He spoke.

She tsk’d as the name. “ _Schlatt_? Isn’t your father the representative for the technology sector?” She asked. Schlatt nodded. “Such a shame you’re powered then, I’d heard such good things about you.” She sighed, scribbling something down on her clipboard.  
“I just found out today too." Schlatt mumbled.

The lady paused, “Found out...?” She says, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

”That I was powered. I just found out today too.” Her eyes studied Schlatt’s face, looking for a lie hidden in his demeanor. She grew uncomfortable when she didn’t find it.  
“Alright, James." She started, “You’re either going to comply and be taken to a research facility in the capitol, or be taken to the outer gates and shot. Your choice.” 

The lady officer was dressed nicely, a tight skirt the ended just above her knees and a blazer to match.   
  


“What sector are you from?” He asked.   
  


“I don’t see why that’s-“ Schmitt interrupted her 

“It’s just a harmless question, here I’ll answer yours then you can answer mine. I’ll go willingly. Now, what sector are you from?”

“The defense sector. Now why was that so important?”

”So you defend?” Schlatt questioned, seeing the guard who was watching from the corner begin to grow impatient.

”I used to, now I’m the representative.” She said proudly.

”So why don’t lord people know about the tribes of powered people in the outer forests?” Schlatt poked, the lady grew tense, lips narrowing into a thin line.

”From what I’ve read on them, they’ve been almost completely harmless for the entire time that we’ve known about their existence.” Schlatt said.

”That is entirely untrue. There have been cases of powered citizens breaking into sector lines to wreck havoc and cause chaos and-“ once again, Schlatt cut her off. 

“Of course there are bad people who just so happen to be powered, but there are also had people who are not powered. You wouldn’t want your child around either, not just the one who is powered.” Schlatt recited. With that the lady left, leaving him with no response. He was escorted back into the van but this time his ankles were chained together.

Everything from that moment on was a blur. The ride, the arrival, shuffling through hallways. Everything up until he turned and his world illuminated in the blue light of code and binary. He felt the ghost of a smile creep onto his lips. Luckily with the slow pace the ankle shackles rendered him to, he had time to find the source. His eyes led him to the door of a cell about 15 feet away. He made eye contact with the boy in the cell. He looked about the same age as Schlatt, but his eyes were red from crying and he looked drained. Physically and mentally. Schlatt decided then that if he was going to be kept in this concrete torture box, then he was going to raise hell while he could. He had eye contact with the boy, smirking slightly nodding in his direction, careful to not make the lock explode but just open. The boys eyes widened, but by then, he was out of Schlatt’s field of view. 

The first cell they put him in he was able to escape from within 30 seconds of the guards locking the doors. He didn’t try to run though, it was more of a threat. To show his power. The second cell was a little more difficult, he had to give them credit, but it only took him 5 minutes. The third cell was probably at the same caliber as the second, but he humored them by staying put for 3 minutes, then it took him another 5 to unlock it all. By then he was feeling tired, his head pounded with a migraine that seemingly came out of nowhere. He knew he wouldn’t try to escape the fourth cell he was violently thrown into, but he didn’t have to. Because he couldn’t. The walls were made of thick lead. 

He layed on the cold lead floor, head pounding. He felt empty. He couldn’t reach any kind of technology through the thickness of the walls. What felt like an eternity, which was probably only about 20 minutes, was cut off by a blaring alarm, which was unfortunately not muffled at all my the walls. The ground shook slightly, maybe there was an earth quack happening, maybe it would take him out. Oh well, they’d just have to wait and see. Suddenly the walls of his cell exploded as if there was too much pressure inside the small chamber. He sat up quickly, probably too quickly seeing as the action made the world around him spin slightly. His eyes darted around, trying to find the person who caused the explosion, but he was met with no one. Just as open hole in the wall leading to freedom.


End file.
